Display device



D. B. SAMUELS.

DISPLAY DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED Dsc. 24, I9I9. IIEIIEwEIJ FEB. 2I.'I922.

Patented Sept. 19, 1922.

UDDDDUDDDDDDDDD nnnumu 6J INVENTOR I BY e SW ATTORNEY-5.

Patented Sept., i9, i922.

unirse stares DANIEL B. VsAMUELs, or Nnw YORK, N.- Y.

BRADLEY, oF'sHoRr HILLS, vNaw .TEnsEn-AND' ninna-ro'untrnsV OHANGEABLE LocK'sieN co.,-1Nc., A CORPORATION or NEW Yonfx.

, n'ssieivonor oN'nFoURTH To FRANCIS ln.

Y DISPLAY nnvion.

To INTER l- Application filed December 24, 1919, Serial No. 347,127. Renewed February 21,` 1922. Serial No.l 538,369. A

To all whom t may concern: y

Be it known that I, DANLEL B. SAMUnLs, a citizen of the United States, residingat the' city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain vnew and useful Improvements in yDisplay Devices, of which the following is a full7 clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to signs-and display devices and particularly to those having detachable character and a support therefor, whereby the information carried by the display device can' bechanged at will. l

yAn object is to provide a device of this kind in which the characters can be*` arranged in any' desiredrelation fas to spacL ing or position-in the eld orarea upon whichthey are supported; also to provide a sign in which the rearrangement of the ad-` instable characters can `be quickly-accomplished and also to provide a device vwhich is attractive in appearance, simple in=construction, inexpensive to manufacture, and which will securely hold the characters lin position. l v

In the accompanying drawings; c p

-Fig. l is a front elevation of one form which my invention may assume;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevationof the same;

Fig. 3 is a section of` the same taken substantially on the line cz-c `of Fig. 2;

Fig. l isa longitudinal section of the Same; .i l ,.v n ik:

Fig. 5 is an elevation -of a portion of the supportfshowing one of display characters applied thereto, and

- Fig. 6 is a perspective of one of the display characters.

The frame l has a display opening 2 in its front face,'isprovided with a cover i3 for the rear face, and mayl be conveniently constructed of four strips having 'mitered ends at their junction. The frame has a recess 4 in its rear face in the bottom of which and adjacent the opening 2 is a .pair

y of super-posed. perforated plates 5 and 6,

one of whichi) 'is fixedly secu-red to thev frame, .while the other (6) 'is `mounted to make sliding excursions in its own plane for short distances by means of rods 7` and 8 seen-red to the 'rear face yolf-this plate and sliding inv recesses 9 in of the` frame. y with numerous apertures or perforations l0 which `are vpreferably unformly and corre spondingly "distributed over the surfaces lthereof at :short `distances apart, sothat the corresponding fperforations/ or apertures in therespective plates can, by a slight relative movement-.of the latter, bebrought into or out ofalignment to any required eX- tent to correspondingly restrict the .passages through theplates'. n

Mounted `on one fend of thej-rearface of the plate 6 in any suitable vIn-annerrsuch as by soldering, is a follower `or bossl 1l havthe. end strips These plates :are provided ing a threaded aperture 12 therein through 1" which passes the threaded'endxof a screw or bolt 13', rotatably carried in thefadja-y cent en dstrip ofthe frame. The screwizl is provided witha milled'head 14 vto facili# tate operation by ones iingersgand-with an annular `groove 15 which is lengagedby :a set screw or pin 16 1n the end strip through which it passes `for preventing longitudinalv `rinovement of the 'boltor screw. Rotation of the screw bymeans of the milled head I will thereforev causethe threaded boss tofae't as a followerv or nut and bemovedlengthwise ofthe screw incay direction dependent upon the directionfof rotatio'nof the screw.

The boss willfsincef'it is rigidly connected f to theyplate 6,1 transmit :its `longitudin"al movement to said p-lat'e1` Thus' the vcorresponding apertures in the plates. ycanfbe shifted into and out of alignment by a mere rotation ofthe milled yhead yof the screw, and` the screw threads serve lto 'holdv the plate againstv accidentall displacement.

4The display' charactersl? Vofi'wh-atever nature f are each lprovided ontheir rear.

faceswith locking pins y18 projecting therefrom and adapted to be insertedainto some of the apertures Y in ,thel plates when they apertures" are aligned and be locked therein by a `relative.shifting of `the plates to` bring lins the apertures out of alignment. The may be undercut or` headed to prevent t eir removal when clamped vby 'they shifting.` of the plate 6, and l preferably constructthem of flat-strips of metal, secured: at one end to the rear face of thecharacte'r, and having the other end 19 bent obliquely to the main portion of the pin to provide the locking head and to also furnish an oblique camming surface which will co-act with the walls of the apertures of the yplates to pull the characters firmly against the surface of the plate and hold the same in that position when the plate 6 is shifted relatively to the plate 5 during a locking movement.

ln use, the milled head 14 is rotated by ones fingers to cause the plate 6 to be shifted relatively to the fixed plate 5 until the aper` tures or perforations of the two plates are brought substantially into alignment. The display characters are then located'upon the display field or surface within the opening 2 of the fra-me in any desired order or arrangement, such as in rows, curves or in any other desired grouping, and the pins on the backs of the characters are assed through the aligned apertures presen ed to them. When all of the characters have been thus applied, the movable plate (6) is shifted relatively to the plate 5, by means of the screw 13, as far as it will go. This causes all of the pins on all of the characters to be gripped at the neck simultaneously by the plates, and be held in position firmly against the face of the plate 5. 'lf some of the pins do not pass their full extent through the apertures the oblique surface of such pins will be engaged by an interior wall of the aperture in plate 6 through which the pin passes and the pin cammed inwardly into proper position. ln assembling the device, the end of the frame through which the screw passes will be separated from the rest of the frame, the plates placed in position in the frame with the rods 7' and 8 disposed in the recesses in the other end of the frame. The separated end of the frame will then be placed in position in the frame and secured thereto in any suitable manner after which the screw 13 will be passed through the end wall of the frame into the boss 11, the screw 16 inserted into groove 15 to hold the screw l13 -in position, and the rear cover applied.

lI claim: y

1. A display device comprising two su perposed plates mountedy for relative movement and each having a plurality of apertures, display characters and securing means carried by the characters adapted to enter laligned apertures in the respective plates and be locked therein by relative movement of said plates.

2. A display device comprising'two superposed plates mounted for relative movement and each having a plurality of apertures, display characters and undercut pins `carried by vsaid characters to be passed through aligned apertures in the respective plates and be locked .therein by relative movement of said plates to carry the apertures out of alignment.

3. A display device comprising two superposed plates mounted for relative movement and each havinga plurality of rectangular apertures, display characters, and studs attached to said characters and adapted to be passed through aligned apertures in the respective plates and be locked therein by relative movement of the said plates to carry the apertures out ofv alignment, said studs comprising iiat strips attached at one end to the display character and having the free end bent obliquely to the main portion of the strip'. l f

4f. A display device comprising a frame, two superposed plates mounted in said frame for movement relative to one another and each having a plurality of apertures distributed over the surface thereof, display characters, securing means carried by said characters and adapted to be passed through aligned apertures in the respective plates and be locked therein by relative movement of said plates, and means carried by the frame for producing relative movement between the plates to lock and unlock the display characters.

5. A display device comprising two superposed plates mounted for relative movement and each having a plurality of apertures, display characters, pins carried by the characters adapted to enter aligned apertures in the respective plates and be locked therein by relative movement of said plates,

and means for producing relative movement said pins each having a cam surface adjacent the portion engaged by the plates for co-action with the walls of the apertures through which the pin passes to cam the pins inwardly to their full extent.

7. A display device comprising a frame, two superposed plates disposed within said frame and mounted for relative movement, each plate having a plurality of apertures therethrough, display characters, pins carried by the characters adapted to enter aligned apertures in the respective plates and be locked therein by relative movement of said plates, a screw rotatably mounted in said frame and held against longitudinal movement therein, and a threaded member carried by one of said plates and engaged by the screw, whereby rotation of they screw will produce relative movement of the plates.

8. A display kdevice comprising a frame, two superposed plates disposed within said frame and mounted for relative movement,

each plate having a plurality of apertures therethrough, display characters, pins carried by the characters adapted to enter aligned apertures in the respective plates and be locked thereinby relative movement of said plates, means for'prooluoing relative movement of said plates comprising a Screw and a follower therefor,l one of Which is oarried by the frame and the other of Which is carried by one of the lates.

In Witness Whereo my signature.

I hereunto `subscribe DANIEL B. SAMUELS.y 

